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rhianneyanne's review
4.0
I found this book after signing up to K.N. Lee's newsletter and street team, which btw, is a great way to learn more about the author. The cover instantly drew my eye to it and then the blurb caught my attention that I knew I need to pick this book up and read it. So, I pre-ordered it and waited patiently until the release date.
This story definitely has an interesting concept but it's just the beginning, and therefore only part of the story. It's about where magic is being destroyed and those who manage to keep it, have to hide it from the world or risk being destroyed along with it.
There were multiple POV's in this story and we learn a lot about the characters Amalia and Kylan. Amalia is a mage, and Kylan one of the last dragon shifters left, and they both have to fight for their survival.
There were some things that I was expecting, mainly because one of the characters literally says, "this is going to happen" and then some chapters later, low and behold the thing happens and you're like, "well yeah, I knew that was coming." I feel like if there had been a cryptic message or something the character didn't quite fully comprehend it could have been a little more of an "omg what the hell?!" moment. Then there was a plot twist that I indeed went, HOLY CRAP, at. I loved it.
With ALL the different types of characters in this book I still got an odd reaction. I was unsatisfied. There was so much information, and action and really good writing but I still felt like there was something still missing from the ending. Because it did just that, it ended without any warning.
Of course, this is compelling me to read the second book because I need to know what is going to happen, but I felt that this book could have ended a little better, and still kept me wanting more. The chapters are on the short side, but I found that quite endearing and made the pace of the book seem a little quicker, thus, heightening my interest.
However, one of the biggest things that frustrated me is that this book ended at 67%. So, a full third of the book was just promotional material and chapter excerpts. Normally, I get like one chapter to tease me into the next book, or even another book written by the author but this was FAR too much at the back of a book. In my opinion.
Overall the story itself was interesting and has me wanting to read the second book.
This story definitely has an interesting concept but it's just the beginning, and therefore only part of the story. It's about where magic is being destroyed and those who manage to keep it, have to hide it from the world or risk being destroyed along with it.
There were multiple POV's in this story and we learn a lot about the characters Amalia and Kylan. Amalia is a mage, and Kylan one of the last dragon shifters left, and they both have to fight for their survival.
There were some things that I was expecting, mainly because one of the characters literally says, "this is going to happen" and then some chapters later, low and behold the thing happens and you're like, "well yeah, I knew that was coming." I feel like if there had been a cryptic message or something the character didn't quite fully comprehend it could have been a little more of an "omg what the hell?!" moment. Then there was a plot twist that I indeed went, HOLY CRAP, at. I loved it.
With ALL the different types of characters in this book I still got an odd reaction. I was unsatisfied. There was so much information, and action and really good writing but I still felt like there was something still missing from the ending. Because it did just that, it ended without any warning.
Of course, this is compelling me to read the second book because I need to know what is going to happen, but I felt that this book could have ended a little better, and still kept me wanting more. The chapters are on the short side, but I found that quite endearing and made the pace of the book seem a little quicker, thus, heightening my interest.
However, one of the biggest things that frustrated me is that this book ended at 67%. So, a full third of the book was just promotional material and chapter excerpts. Normally, I get like one chapter to tease me into the next book, or even another book written by the author but this was FAR too much at the back of a book. In my opinion.
Overall the story itself was interesting and has me wanting to read the second book.
limabean74's review
4.0
I was totally drawn to this cover and knew I would read this at some point. When it was picked for My TBR list I was rather excited. This book had everything and more, fantasy, magic, dragons, shapeshifters, etc. This is my first book from K.N. Lee and it wont be my last, I love how she tells a story. I can't wait to read the next book.
Amalia is a mage and a group called the Brotherhood is after her. She must leave the only place she has ever know and go on a journey to escape from these evil men. There is something special about Amalia the problem is we don't know what that is, apparently, she doesn't either. The story is a slow build and switches between a few POV but the Main POV are Amalia and a Shifter names Kylan. They might be destined for each other and the story is a build of these two and what is going to happen in, I assume the next book.
I liked Amalia a lot, living in a town she is very naive, I felt bad for her but I love how as the story goes on she gets a little stronger and how it ended I think we are about to see one badass woman. I really liked Kylan, I liked what he was and how he was an independent person but had his faults. His clan reminds me of vikings but I wont give it away. I was so excited when I found out more about it. The Brotherhood are just not nice men, like no, they have firedrakes and pretty much rip people apart. I can safely say I HATED Brother Marduk.
Here is my only issue, the book was a little rushed and some of the action scene were not bad but needed something more. I felt like the story could have been expanded a little more and I don't think it would have affected how much I enjoyed it or slow it down. It ended with a bit of a cliffhanger which I was fine with, the thing that bothered me, was it was at 67%. I want to call this a build up for the epic next book but I noticed it was also under 200 pages. I love the mix of characters and paranormal creatures and I want more of it. *stomps feet*
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, K.N. Lee has a lot of books I am now planning to dive into. I loved her writing and the story she tells is unique! I would totally recommend, please note, that there is a few gory moments in this story. Great Characters and a story I really did enjoy with a great mix of paranormal creatures! A must read, even if it ending at 67%. :)
Amalia is a mage and a group called the Brotherhood is after her. She must leave the only place she has ever know and go on a journey to escape from these evil men. There is something special about Amalia the problem is we don't know what that is, apparently, she doesn't either. The story is a slow build and switches between a few POV but the Main POV are Amalia and a Shifter names Kylan. They might be destined for each other and the story is a build of these two and what is going to happen in, I assume the next book.
I liked Amalia a lot, living in a town she is very naive, I felt bad for her but I love how as the story goes on she gets a little stronger and how it ended I think we are about to see one badass woman. I really liked Kylan, I liked what he was and how he was an independent person but had his faults. His clan reminds me of vikings but I wont give it away. I was so excited when I found out more about it. The Brotherhood are just not nice men, like no, they have firedrakes and pretty much rip people apart. I can safely say I HATED Brother Marduk.
Here is my only issue, the book was a little rushed and some of the action scene were not bad but needed something more. I felt like the story could have been expanded a little more and I don't think it would have affected how much I enjoyed it or slow it down. It ended with a bit of a cliffhanger which I was fine with, the thing that bothered me, was it was at 67%. I want to call this a build up for the epic next book but I noticed it was also under 200 pages. I love the mix of characters and paranormal creatures and I want more of it. *stomps feet*
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, K.N. Lee has a lot of books I am now planning to dive into. I loved her writing and the story she tells is unique! I would totally recommend, please note, that there is a few gory moments in this story. Great Characters and a story I really did enjoy with a great mix of paranormal creatures! A must read, even if it ending at 67%. :)
Thanks for stopping by to check out my review.
Have a great day and Happy Reading!
This review was originally posted on Because reading is better than real life
phyrre's review
3.0
I'd give this 2.5 stars, but we'll round up to three. I grabbed this because, let's be honest, the cover is absolutely gorgeous, and I am a shallow, shallow creature with too much time on her hands.
At 150 pages, I'm really not sure if this book can qualify as an "epic fantasy," and I feel like that shows in the way the book unfolds.
The premise of Fallen Empire is fascinating and holds so much potential, but overall, I feel like the delivery wasn't quite there.
My biggest feeling, after reading this book, is just that there should be more. More backstory, more character development, more time building the plot ... Just more.
The world seems fascinating and just rife with potential. There's Wolf shifters and mages and dragons and gods and seers and prophecies. I mean, it ticks all the boxes. The problem is that the worldbuilding is light. While all the puzzle pieces are there, they don't quite add up to a full picture. Part of that, I feel, is probably the length of the book. We're just not in it long enough to actually be immersed in this world, and it felt like things were popping up out of nowhere randomly.
The characters, while they seemed like they might be interesting, were too fleeting for me to really become attached to. Again, I'm sure this has to do with the length. Characters come and go so quickly, and I have the feeling like we're supposed to miss them and mourn for them (like Amalia's parents), but there wasn't enough screen time to really feel for them. Characters swept by on a conveyor belt with no real defining characteristics that make them stick out and seem like real people to me.
The plot feels extremely rushed, especially towards the end, where there's a random two-year time gap all of a sudden that came out of nowhere and isn't indicated anywhere until you've read a ways and it mentions that something that just happened in the previous chapter took place two years ago. There's quite a bit of jumping around in time with flashbacks and such and head-hopping between different point-of-view characters, so it made it a bit hard to follow along. I also wasn't really sure what was happening in some places. It felt like there were parts missing to flesh out the plot and have it flow together well.
This is really more of a personal thing, but I'm not a fan of instalove and especially not soulmates, and that was pretty much everywhere. It's particularly problematic when one character experiences instalove not once but twice. It just cheapens it and feels a little silly and lazy to me, especially when there would be a perfectly logical reason to slowly fall for this person. Maybe that was what was intended to happen, but because things felt so rushed, it seemed more like instalove to me.
Overall, Fallen Empire is still well written, has a pretty interesting world, and is just an easy, entertaining read. If you're looking for something that's just a quick, enjoyable read that'll hold your attention for a while, this did it for me.
At 150 pages, I'm really not sure if this book can qualify as an "epic fantasy," and I feel like that shows in the way the book unfolds.
The premise of Fallen Empire is fascinating and holds so much potential, but overall, I feel like the delivery wasn't quite there.
My biggest feeling, after reading this book, is just that there should be more. More backstory, more character development, more time building the plot ... Just more.
The world seems fascinating and just rife with potential. There's Wolf shifters and mages and dragons and gods and seers and prophecies. I mean, it ticks all the boxes. The problem is that the worldbuilding is light. While all the puzzle pieces are there, they don't quite add up to a full picture. Part of that, I feel, is probably the length of the book. We're just not in it long enough to actually be immersed in this world, and it felt like things were popping up out of nowhere randomly.
The characters, while they seemed like they might be interesting, were too fleeting for me to really become attached to. Again, I'm sure this has to do with the length. Characters come and go so quickly, and I have the feeling like we're supposed to miss them and mourn for them (like Amalia's parents), but there wasn't enough screen time to really feel for them. Characters swept by on a conveyor belt with no real defining characteristics that make them stick out and seem like real people to me.
The plot feels extremely rushed, especially towards the end, where there's a random two-year time gap all of a sudden that came out of nowhere and isn't indicated anywhere until you've read a ways and it mentions that something that just happened in the previous chapter took place two years ago. There's quite a bit of jumping around in time with flashbacks and such and head-hopping between different point-of-view characters, so it made it a bit hard to follow along. I also wasn't really sure what was happening in some places. It felt like there were parts missing to flesh out the plot and have it flow together well.
This is really more of a personal thing, but I'm not a fan of instalove and especially not soulmates, and that was pretty much everywhere. It's particularly problematic when one character experiences instalove not once but twice. It just cheapens it and feels a little silly and lazy to me, especially when there would be a perfectly logical reason to slowly fall for this person. Maybe that was what was intended to happen, but because things felt so rushed, it seemed more like instalove to me.
Overall, Fallen Empire is still well written, has a pretty interesting world, and is just an easy, entertaining read. If you're looking for something that's just a quick, enjoyable read that'll hold your attention for a while, this did it for me.
achastane's review
2.0
[THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS]
Ohhhh my god. So it started out really well. I was really into it. The writing was pretty good.
And then I started getting kind of confused. Like:
WAIT. What? Up until now he's been referred to as a Wolf! This line came in with no introduction or explanation whatsoever. You don't really get one after either. Why can Wolves become Dragons? Why aren't they called Dragons? That's like an MD insisting on being called a Bachelor of Arts no? Like Dragons are way more kickass why would you not want to be known for that instead??
ANYWAY. Also later on the plot randomly jumps 2 years, for unclear reasons. So basically the worldbuilding gets a bit confusing but okay.
Okay then there's THIS:
WHAT. WHAT. She's supposed to be some kickass dragon-riding warrior queen and she's crying because some boy kissed her?! NO YOU DID NOT. Also, I did not realise I was reading a Mills & Boon romance novel. And everything is done in the "most delicious way" - literally the next paragraph:
On top of that, Amalia is a total moron. Like not only does she go all swoony over random guys, and she LITERALLY SWOONS:
ARE YOU TROLLING ME RIGHT NOW.
She's also just a general dolt who would randomly run into the forest on her own from "mortification", and is totally chill with the way the Wolves randomly invade lands of innocent people because because "that was the way":
IS SHE A BLOODY WET BLANKET OR WHAT.
Another example of how I was expecting kickass warrior queen and got some 13-year-old school girl with her first crush instead:
GIRL. GET A GRIP.
And thenlove interest 1 randomly sells her out and enter love interest 2 and oh my god INSTALOVE. Like so bad it's hilarious instalove:
Oh my god. Like maybe this would have seemed more epic if Amalia wasn't the swooning type but this just made me laugh. Like really hard. On a plane full of people who gave me weird looks.
So anyway, I gave this book 2 stars. It was amusing enough but come on, this is not a good fantasy novel - a romance novel mayyybeee, but even then a pretty average one.
Ohhhh my god. So it started out really well. I was really into it. The writing was pretty good.
And then I started getting kind of confused. Like:
Spoiler
"Kylan was a dragon, with sharp teeth, gray and black scales that glistened under the the moonlit sky..."
WAIT. What? Up until now he's been referred to as a Wolf! This line came in with no introduction or explanation whatsoever. You don't really get one after either. Why can Wolves become Dragons? Why aren't they called Dragons? That's like an MD insisting on being called a Bachelor of Arts no? Like Dragons are way more kickass why would you not want to be known for that instead??
ANYWAY. Also later on the plot randomly jumps 2 years, for unclear reasons. So basically the worldbuilding gets a bit confusing but okay.
Okay then there's THIS:
"The way his fingers laced in her hair and how his tongue entered her mouth in the most delicious way had her closing her eyes in absolute bliss. She was so happy that she could cry, and tears did sprout from the corners of her eyes."
WHAT. WHAT. She's supposed to be some kickass dragon-riding warrior queen and she's crying because some boy kissed her?! NO YOU DID NOT. Also, I did not realise I was reading a Mills & Boon romance novel. And everything is done in the "most delicious way" - literally the next paragraph:
”When his kiss became greedy as he devoured her mouth in the most delicious fashion..."
On top of that, Amalia is a total moron. Like not only does she go all swoony over random guys, and she LITERALLY SWOONS:
"His smile matched hers and she swooned when he leaned in to kiss her..."
ARE YOU TROLLING ME RIGHT NOW.
She's also just a general dolt who would randomly run into the forest on her own from "mortification", and is totally chill with the way the Wolves randomly invade lands of innocent people because because "that was the way":
"She never agreed with the way they would invade enemy lands or even lands of innocent humans. But, that was the way of the Wolf."
IS SHE A BLOODY WET BLANKET OR WHAT.
Another example of how I was expecting kickass warrior queen and got some 13-year-old school girl with her first crush instead:
"Perhaps Aros would choose her as a mate. Even if he didn't, any opportunity to spend time with him was worth the world to her."
GIRL. GET A GRIP.
And then
Spoiler
"They were born for one another. They had been bonded by the fates long before they even existed...She was his rider, and he was her dragon. The world was not ready for their pairing. It wasn't ready to be changed forever."
Oh my god. Like maybe this would have seemed more epic if Amalia wasn't the swooning type but this just made me laugh. Like really hard. On a plane full of people who gave me weird looks.
So anyway, I gave this book 2 stars. It was amusing enough but come on, this is not a good fantasy novel - a romance novel mayyybeee, but even then a pretty average one.
lakea's review
3.0
I’m not much for Fantasy books but liked this. The story was interesting and characters like able.
As others have said, this book felt rushed. I would’ve like it flushed out more.
Personally I found the progression of time confusing. I’m still not sure how long it was between the wedding battle and the raid or how long the heroine had been training. Her friend was to be gone or 6months but suddenly he was coming home after two years?
Not to sound picky but editing was a problem as well. Names were switched, sentences didn’t make sense, reign/ rein mixups, etc.
As others have said, this book felt rushed. I would’ve like it flushed out more.
Personally I found the progression of time confusing. I’m still not sure how long it was between the wedding battle and the raid or how long the heroine had been training. Her friend was to be gone or 6months but suddenly he was coming home after two years?
Not to sound picky but editing was a problem as well. Names were switched, sentences didn’t make sense, reign/ rein mixups, etc.
booksnpenguins's review
3.0
Not gonna lie, I picked up this book mainly because the cover is stunning and because it's one of the shortest fantasy books around, and I seriously needed something quick yet entertaining to keep me out of a slump and in on this reading roll I've been lately.
I'm glad to say I didn't end up hating it despite its flaws.
And while Fallen Empire was a bit of a mess with its rushed plot, lack of background stories and sloppy editing, it was also very fast paced and interesting enough to keep me hooked.
I wouldn't say the characters are complex and well crafted, because we generally know very little of them, but if you're okay with just being told x is x rather than being shown, you won't have any problem with how they're presented.
It also gets pretty dark and grimey in some parts and I wish the author could have taken her time in exploring some parts of the story more than she did, because I feel like she'd have done 'em justice, especially considering how many species (Wolves, Dragons, Mages, Humans, the freaking Brotherhood) and clans there are and how little we get to know about them.
I can openly appreciate the effort the author put in trying to squeeze so many notions and ideas in such a short amount of pages, though. She did a rather decent job, overall, and even though this book wasn't excellent nor the most origial, I actually enjoyed it and will definitely read the rest of the series.
ACTUAL RATINGS 3,5/5
kasaya_mt33's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Good storyline, could do with a little bit more of information on characters and their development. Feels like it fast-forwarded or skipped over some key components. I didn't hate it.
camilleareads's review
1.0
I went into this book with such high hopes considering the numerous positive reviews, the amazing cover, and it being described as an epic fantasy novel. The premise for the series sounded so good but in my opinion was poorly executed. The plot was rushed; for a few chapters we're following Amalia escape and then suddenly we're skipping two years ahead...? There's no time to know any of the characters and zero character development. This made the plot feel empty and not at all climatic. The book ended at 67% on my Kindle which surprised since the book didn't take me anywhere at all.
I'm really disappointed with this because there was a potential for the book's worldbuilding with Mages, shifters, gods, and The Brotherhood.
I'm really disappointed with this because there was a potential for the book's worldbuilding with Mages, shifters, gods, and The Brotherhood.
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